A Night of Desperation

Chapter 20: Another Attempt (2)

Yu Hong stretched his hand to warm up for a moment, suddenly feeling an unbearable thirst. He stood up and walked to the wooden barrel to scoop some water to drink.

The water in the barrel was quite murky, a faint grayish color, but it was much better than the foul-smelling water.

Yu Hong took a piece of dry charcoal, used an axe to cut off a small piece of cloth, and wrapped the charcoal inside. He then placed it on top of the wooden cup he intended to drink from, just the right size to stay in place and not fall out.

With this, he had made the simplest, rudimentary charcoal filtration cup.

He carefully and slowly poured water from the barrel over the cloth-wrapped charcoal.

The water slowly seeped through and then very slowly dripped out from beneath the cloth, falling into the cup.

Yu Hong observed and found that the water, at first, had some black charcoal residue, but gradually became cleaner, much clearer than the water in the barrel.

Although still murky, it was an improvement.

“Water must be drunk, it can’t be lacking. Let me see if I can reinforce and improve it. If not, I’ll go to the little stammerer’s house for help.”

With this plan in mind, Yu Hong gripped the wooden cup. He concentrated, intending to reinforce it.

Immediately, a new black number appeared on the side of the cup: 2 hours and 34 minutes.

At the same time, the mechanical sound of the black imprint rang in his ears again.

“Do you want to reinforce the filtration cup?”

“Yes!”

Yu Hong replied eagerly, feeling hopeful.

With a swish, the number on the side of the cup turned into a countdown.

Relieved, he sat down, leaning against the fireplace to enjoy the warmth that radiated from it, feeling much more at ease.

Two hours wasn’t too long. A little rest would be fine.

Sitting on the wooden bench, Yu Hong felt the continuous warmth from the fire flow through him, seeping into his body, making him feel increasingly lethargic.

Despite the coming danger of the dark night outside, with its damp coldness and lurking threats, this warmth made it hard for him to muster any energy.

Before he knew it, his eyelids began to droop.

“No! I can’t sleep!” He suddenly stood up, distancing himself from the fireplace.

By this time, a faint sweat odor had started to permeate the cave.

It was the smell of his clothes and bedding being dried by the heat.

Before, it hadn’t been noticeable due to the dampness, but now that everything was drying out, the smell quickly spread.

“Ugh,” Yu Hong rubbed his nose, realizing that the best thing to do now was to open the door and let in some fresh air. Unfortunately, it was nighttime—the most dangerous time outside.

Ssss

A faint, hissing sound of insects crawling outside the door began to reach his ears.

It was clear that the blood tick insects had started to appear.

He didn’t know where these bugs came from; they weren’t visible during the day, but once night fell, they all crawled out.

Moreover, they evaporated and vanished when exposed to light, which seemed unnatural.

But at this moment, he didn’t have time to think about it.

He stood up and waited quietly by the fireplace.

The flames in the furnace flickered like red silk, constantly shifting, their light dancing and fluctuating.

Ssss

Soon, a large number of black insects began to pour in through the ventilation hole on the right side of the door, like black sand seeping in.

As soon as the black insects entered, they were exposed to the furnace’s flames and instantly turned to black smoke, vanishing.

The flames dimmed for a moment but quickly returned to their normal intensity.

“Thankfully, the blood tick insects don’t consume much of the fire. As long as I control the number of them coming in, the firewood should last through the night.”

Yu Hong assessed the dry firewood in the corner and breathed a sigh of relief.

He stood by the fireplace, waiting for the insect invasion to subside while staying prepared to add more firewood.

Time passed, and the firewood slowly began to dim.

Yu Hong’s movements were fast as he swiftly threw more dry wood into the furnace.

Soon, the fire reignited and the light returned to normal.

This cycle repeated, and he had to add more wood roughly every half hour, or the flames would quickly fade.

This kept him from letting his guard down, constantly having to focus on the fireplace.

Boom!!!

Suddenly, the wooden door was struck with a loud crash.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of rapid knocks followed. The door shook violently, like a giant drum being hit, and stones began to fall off the edges of the doorframe.

But the two reinforced support pillars were doing their job.

In the midst of the loud bangs, the door shook and trembled, as though the entire cave might collapse. However, thanks to the support pillars, it was still firmly held in place, and the surrounding screws remained intact.

Yu Hong stood frozen, heart pounding, trying his best not to look at the door, instead keeping his eyes on the fireplace, making sure the flames didn’t shrink.

The minutes dragged on in this tense atmosphere.

He had long lost track of time, and his phone had run out of battery and shut off.

All he could do was silently watch the fire, waiting for dawn.

“Wait!” Suddenly, a thought struck him. “The phone is also an item. Can’t it be reinforced too!?”

Yu Hong quickly realized that the most technologically advanced thing he had was his phone.

If he used it to reinforce, maybe he could turn it into a center for calculating and controlling intelligent systems.

Maybe he could even create an absolutely intelligent and secure shelter base in the future!

While standing there, Yu Hong let his mind wander.

After a while, the loud banging sounds finally stopped.

The large creature outside seemed to have realized that it couldn’t break through the reinforced door, so it gave up and scuttled away, leaving behind only faint rustling noises that soon faded.

About ten minutes of silence passed.

Outside, apart from the usual blood tick insects, there was no other movement.

Everything had returned to the same state of standstill.

But after being struck for so long, the reinforced door had a slight inward bulge, with cracks beginning to spread across the surface.

Phew.

Yu Hong let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like half the night had passed. If he could hold on just a little longer, he’d make it through.

Boom!!!

Just then, a huge crash exploded on the door.

The door panel was struck so hard that a crack appeared.

Yu Hong’s expression changed. He quickly ran up to the door, dragging a quilt to brace against the door panel.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

A new round of strikes followed, louder and stronger than before.

“Either this isn’t the same creature, or the big creature has entered a berserk state!”

Yu Hong gritted his teeth, holding the door, while his shoulders, already sore from the earlier strain, burned with pain.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Half an hour.

Forty minutes passed.

Finally, the banging stopped, and silence descended.

Yu Hong breathed a sigh of relief, letting go of the quilt and checking the door.

The reinforced door panel had several more raised areas on the inside, with cracks spreading all over.

If the strikes had continued for another half hour, the door would have been completely broken.

At this moment, a faint ray of light shining through the ventilation hole made Yu Hong realize that the creature outside hadn’t given up, but it was just dawn.

He slumped down, drenched in sweat, feeling both hungry and thirsty.

He turned to look at the reinforced filtration cup. The countdown had long since disappeared.

In its place was a completely upgraded black metal cup.

The cup had a large filtration device attached, looking like a weight with the lid of the cup connected to it. The cylindrical base of the cup resembled a beer mug, with a capacity of at least 500 milliliters—about the size of a standard bottle of mineral water.

Taking the reinforced filtration cup, Yu Hong quickly poured some water from the barrel into it.

The rainwater filtered through, slowly dripping into the bottom of the cup, gradually forming a layer of clearer cold water.

Yu Hong waited for a while, tilted the cup, and poured out the filtered water.

“This is drinkable now, but it still needs to be boiled.”

The boiling pot and basin were in the house in Baiqiu Village.

Yu Hong could only take a symbolic sip to moisten his mouth.

Then he walked to the door, lifted the barrier, and peeked outside.

The light outside had grown brighter, and sunlight was once again shining down.

Yu Hong checked his surroundings and, finding it safe, removed the support pillar and unlocked the door.

He stood at the door, checking the extent of the damage to the large door.

To his shock, it was almost about to give way. If the reinforcement hadn’t been done in time, it would’ve been breached just before dawn.

Yu Hong silently placed his hand on the surface of the door.

“Do you want to repair it?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

As the countdown appeared on the door, Yu Hong felt a faint sense of unease.

“It’s still not enough; I need to reinforce the door even further. If another big creature comes and hits it, this door won’t hold!”

“So how do I reinforce it?”

He stood by the door, closed it, and began thinking carefully.

After a while, he quickly grabbed an axe, and the sound of wood being chopped echoed through the cave. Soon, Yu Hong dragged two thick wooden boards back.

Using a hammer, he made a lot of noise, and after some effort, the two thick wooden boards were nailed to the back of the door.

But the boards were not nailed to the door itself. Instead, they were fixed against the stone walls on both sides, one at the top and one at the bottom, placed parallel to each other.

This way, although it would be more cumbersome to enter and exit, the door was once again reinforced.

Next, Yu Hong repaired the wooden boards, placing vertical strips along the back of the door to thicken it.

Having done all that, he was exhausted and sat down.

Wiping sweat from his brow, he took the small wooden box given to him by the stammerer, inside which only two nails remained.

“The steel nails are almost gone. I need to replenish them.”

The mortise and tenon structure was useful, but it had to be planned from the start. Otherwise, later modifications would rely on things like steel nails.

Sitting still, Yu Hong thought for a moment before filtering another cup of water and sipping it slowly.

He picked up the steel nails and a fluorite rod, took a deep breath, and surveyed the entire cave.

“First, I’ll go to Little Stutterer’s house to move some things. Before I leave, I should reinforce something to save time.”

He thought for a moment and chose to reinforce the newly added door reinforcement boards.

Reaching out, he placed his hand on the reinforcement board behind the door, focusing his thoughts.

Soon, the familiar black mark of a mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

“Would you like to reinforce the door reinforcement board?”

“Yes!”

Without hesitation, he responded in his mind.

Immediately, a number appeared on the board, which soon turned into a countdown: 1 hour 32 minutes.

“Not too bad. It’s not too long,” he sighed in relief.

Then, he picked up the stick, tucked the single piece of enhanced stone into his pocket, and opened the door.

Without hesitation, he jumped down the rock steps and headed toward Baiqiu Village through the forest.

(End of this chapter)